When looking for a good night out, Cal State Long Beach fashion-merchandising senior Staci Van Dusseldorp said that she likes to go to Panama Joe’s Restaurant and Cantina because “it is a chill place to hang out.”
Panama Joe’s live entertainment permit allows the restaurant to host bands, disc jockeys and karaoke. Van Dusseldorp said the permit is the restaurant’s biggest asset.
However, the Long Beach Police Department and Belmont Shore residents recommended against renewing Panama Joe’s live entertainment permit for the first time in four years.
The application process for the “Entertainment Permit with Patron Dancing,” which needs to be reapplied every 12 months, prompted the LBPD to evaluate and give a recommendation. According to a memorandum from the Long Beach Chief of Police Jim McDonnell, the LBPD recommended the permit be denied due to the continuing high number of disturbance-related calls, alcohol-related incidents, arrests for driving under the influence and arrests for public intoxication.
As part of the evaluation process, the LBPD examined the number of calls for service, crime reports and arrests involved with Panama Joe’s from December 2011 to May 2012.
There were five calls for service, six incident reports and 15 arrests attributed to Panama Joe’s. Police arrested seven people for public intoxication, seven people for driving under the influence of alcohol and one person for urinating in public.
Vice Mayor Robert Garcia seconded Long Beach City Council Member Gary DeLong’s motion to reinstate the “Entertainment Permit with Patron Dancing,” and the Long Beach City Council voted unanimously to renew Panama Joe’s permit at the meeting on July 24.
“I don’t think denying the entertainment permit will make things any better for the community,” DeLong said.
At the city council meeting, 22 speakers provided their opinions on the matter of renewal. Thirteen were in favor of the permit, and nine were opposed.
Many Belmont Shore residents attended the city council meeting as well.
“[Panama Joe’s is] to sell liquor, and when people are over inebriated, they’re pushed out onto the streets, and they then cause the troubles of DUI’s, vandalism and urination,” Melinda Cotton, a Belmont Shore resident of 30 years, said.
One condition of the permit states that new customers are not allowed into the bar after 12:45 a.m. By revoking the entertainment permit, the city would not be able to regulate the time customers enter the bar.
DeLong said he agrees with the conditions of the permit and that the city of Long Beach does not want people stopping into bars and having a few drinks before they make their way home.
Others also said the Panama Joe’s entertainment permit is worthwhile.
“Without their entertainment license, this place would be just another bar,” Van Dusseldorp said. “They would lose their customers if they didn’t have it.”
Greg Newman, co-owner of Panama Joe’s, said he is very happy the permit is renewed, but it has opened his eyes to some changes that need to be made with Panama Joe’s and the community.
According to Newman, Panama Joe’s is the only establishment in the area with an entertainment permit.
“I don’t know if we would do any better [with the permit], but it’s cool to have what no else has,” Newman said.
Newman said Panama Joe’s bar brings in about $5,000 in sales on a Tuesday night with a DJ. However, on a Friday or Saturday night with no live entertainment, the bar brings in nearly double that amount.
According to Newman, the police have recommended an approval for the renewal of the entertainment permit every year except this one.